


Do I Love You Because...

by Kelsocspanatarailka (orphan_account)



Series: Sing Works [1]
Category: Sing (2016)
Genre: AU, Ash is the Too Good for This World, But Buster Moon tho, Cinderella Elements, Everybody hates Lance, F/M, He blows sparkles, He's the Fairy godfather, His sons are named after members of the Rat Pack because why would i not, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I promise, I'm Sorry, Johnny is the Precious Cinnamon Roll, Maybe Meena too, Mike is a tiny little jerk, Not Write in it, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Author Sees All and Knows Nothing, The Author is Pretentious and it Affects the Story, The Author likes Fancy Words such as dais rather than platform, The Author likes to Speak in the Third Person, Title from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella because duh, and she knows it, done tagging, fight me, he's full of himself, honestly, i don't know yet, lol, minimal characters honestly, no that's not a drug euphemism, the tags are longer than the story, there are literal sparkles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9303446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Kelsocspanatarailka
Summary: Johnny is Cinderella. Ash is Princess Done With This Shit. Cinderella AU where they're still animals.This is all devdev2017's fault.





	1. The Prince(ss) is Giving a Ball!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [devdev2017](https://archiveofourown.org/users/devdev2017/gifts).



This is **_so_** not how Ash imagined her first ball to go.

In the first place, she’d only _just barely_ even wanted one; but her parents insisted, so yeah that was cool or whatever. She could handle that. But in the second place, although the food seemed good, Ash couldn’t actually go eat any. (Which was forgivable. Host of the ball and all that; she got it. She really did.) But on the other hand, the music was subpar. (Which was the only thing that was completely un-forgivable. She had half a mind to go down there and break the conductor’s baton over her skinny llama head.)

On top of that, she had to stand. On a platform. While wave after wave of royal hopefuls walked up to meet her and hopefully secure the first dance. And all Ash could do was smile diplomatically. (And run a finger between her tight collar and her neck. Because this dress was killing her, and hadn’t her parents heard of air conditioning?)

And another thing, could her parents have possibly found any more groveling sycophants? Ash didn’t think so. It seemed every airheaded twat in the kingdom was in this ballroom, eating up all the food and laughing at every single joke Ash made. Even the deliberately unfunny ones. Ash stopped trying to be charming after the first fifty guests, and after two hundred more, now she just tried to clear the bar at diplomatic.

She smiled benevolently at a pair of bunnies that approached, and they proceeded to look at each other and squeal. Because of course they did. Ash narrowly resisted slapping a paw over her face in anguish. (Or slapping the conductor with her quills, because there had to be less mind-numbing music than this.)

This was going to be the longest night of Ash’s life.

* * *

 

This was so not how Johnny imagined his first ball to go.

Mainly because when he imagined a ball, he actually imagined himself there. But his foster father Mike had other plans.

“Listen, kid.” Mike said, dusting off his good fedora. “A rager like this? No place for a kid like you. So, you just stay right here, and I’ll see you tomorrow, eh? C’mon boys.”

Mike’s actual sons; Frank and Sammy, both actual mice and slightly younger than Johnny, smirked and walked out the door.

"Mike, wait!" Johnny called. "The Princess said any eligible young animal could attend!"

"Yeah, I don't see any of those in here." Mike smirked.

"But-" Johnny started, but Mike cut him off.

“I expect this place spotless when I get back, capisce?” Mike said sternly. Johnny paused, then nodded in defeat. “Good. See ya, kid.”

Mike closed the door behind himself, and Johnny heard the click of the lock behind him.

What a bummer.

Johnny had heard about this ball for weeks. How fun it would be, how every eligible young animal was invited, and how Crown Princess Ashlyn “the Charming” herself would be hosting. People talked about how that ball would be where Princess Ash picked out her significant other. Johnny didn’t want to be a prince, or a Duke, or whatever someone who marries a princess becomes. He just wanted to get out of the house for a change.

Mike almost never let Johnny go anywhere but school, save for the market where he shopped weekly for food. So, in short, this sucked.

Johnny would have sat there all night, staring into space and wishing that he was anywhere else than Mike’s house. But at around 8:30, an hour after Mike and his boys left the house, there was a knock at the door.

Johnny wasn’t expecting anyone.

He crept to the door and peeked through the peephole, but he saw no one. He opened the door and looked around, and when no one showed themselves he shrugged and closed the door again.

So, imagine his surprise when he turned around and was greeted by a face full of glitter.

“Oi!” Johnny spluttered, wiping his eyes. He looked down and there was a koala standing in front of him. In a sparkly speedo. Johnny was fairly certain that he was dreaming, but he also kind of wished he could bleach his eyes. “Who are you?”

“I’m Buster Moon.” The koala replied matter-of-factly.

“Good for you.” Johnny waved a hand in the air. “I meant why are you here.”

“Of course, Johnny.” Buster chuckled. “I’m sorry. I’m here to help you.”

“How do you know my name?” Johnny frowned warily.

“Why, I’m your fairy godfather, of course.” Buster grinned cheerfully. Johnny collapsed in a nearby chair.

“My fairy…” He swept a hand over his eyes. “I’m gonna kill Sammy.”

“What?” Buster frowned.

“He must have put something in one of my drinks again.” Johnny explained. “That’s the only thing that could explain a koala standing in my foster father’s house; wearing a bloody speedo and claiming to be my fairy godfather. I have to be on something.”

“I assure you that whether this Sammy character spiked your drink or not, you aren’t dreaming this, Johnny.” Buster said kindly. “I heard you wanted to go to Princess Ash’s ball tonight, and I’m here to make that happen.”

“How?” Johnny asked, ticking the problems off on his fingers. “Mike specifically told me not to go, and he’s definitely going to be there; I have nothing to wear, and no way to get there. And that’s just the obvious ones.”

“I can work with that.” Buster nodded. “Okay, stand up.”

Johnny shook his head, but he stood reluctantly. Buster put a fist on his hip and looked Johnny up and down.

“Close your eyes.” Buster instructed. Johnny rolled his eyes, but he closed them anyway. He stood there for a second, and some sort of wind hit him, but he kept his eyes closed.

“Okay, open ‘em up.” Buster instructed. Johnny cracked his eyes open and glanced downward, then jumped. Rather than his old green t-shirt, ratty jeans, and busted converse, Johnny was wearing a sleek-looking black suit, with a green shirt and a black tie. On his feet were polished dress shoes.

“Cor, blimey!” Johnny grinned wide enough to show the teeth in the back of his mouth. “Do I ever look sharp!”

“That you do.” Buster nodded.

“Thank you so much, Mister Moon.” Johnny said sincerely. Buster smiled.

“Of course.” Buster said, then frowned over Johnny.

“What?” Johnny said warily.

“You need something to ride.” Buster clapped his hands together.

“No, no…” Johnny protested. “That’s not necessary, Mister Moon. I can walk.”

“Nonsense!” Buster crowed. He stepped to the door, opened it, produced a handful of glitter from…somewhere, and blew it over the road. When it settled, there was a brand-new truck outside. Johnny’s jaw dropped.

“My god.” Johnny breathed. “Doesn’t this bugger all.”

“I’m sure it does.” Buster smiled a little. “Now, get going. The ball won’t last all night.”

Johnny grinned and moved out of the door.

“Oh, and Johnny?” Buster called after him, and Johnny paused. “The clothes and ride only last until twelve o’clock. You have to be back before then, because it all ends at twelve on the dot.”

“I’ve got it Mister Moon.” Johnny nodded. “Thank you so much.”


	2. Ten Minutes Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash meets Johnny and likes what she sees.

Johnny had never seen anything like it.

The room was lit perfectly, filled with happy people, and everything. It even smelled amazing, and according to the doorkeeper, the room Johnny was seeing was just the hallway, not even the main ballroom. So, Johnny stepped through the doors.

The experience instantly got even better.

The music, while not his usual style, was captivating; the lights were dazzling, and there were somehow even more people. This was amazing.

* * *

 

Ash was just about fed up.

She actually started to feel a headache coming on. She just wanted to go sit down somewhere. Her doneness started somewhere between greeting a pair of disproportionately snobby young mice along with their sleazy father, and a male porcupine talking her ear off about his musical achievements. She was currently still trying to escape said porcupine at the moment, in a way that her parents would approve of. Which meant no quill-smacking or **_audible_** threats. (What even was this guy’s name again? Lex, or Lucius, or maybe Louis…no wait, Lance. There it was.)

At any rate, the guy had far exceeded his allotted time, and was honestly lucky that Ash didn’t call some sort of guard to haul him away. He really just needed to shut up, especially if he was going to talk up Ash and make eyes at some girl on the other side of the room at the same time. Disgusting.

Ash was starting to wonder **_just_** how unethical faking an injury to escape this guy would be, when she glimpsed a newcomer to the ball. She shifted her weight and caught a glimpse of a tall gorilla. Well, _actually_ , he wasn’t all that tall for a gorilla. But a gorilla is always taller than a porcupine, so to Ash he was plenty tall. From his height, and the way he was gaping around the room, he couldn’t have been more than Ash’s age; but she kind of had trouble seeing past Lance’s big head, so she stepped off the dais to get a closer look.

When she did, an audible gasp went through the room. That was confusing until she realized that the last royal to leave their platform like this had been her grandfather. (So, it ran in the family, obviously.) And he had done so to meet the lady who would become his queen. Which gave Ash a pretty good feeling about this.

She waded through the crowd, (although honestly, they gave her a pretty wide berth) heading straight for the newcomer. He looked surprised that she was approaching him, and he kept looking around like she might be heading for someone in his vicinity. (Nope. Heading straight for you, buddy boy.)

“Hey.” She stopped right in front of him and gave him the smile that led to her being dubbed “the Charming” in the first place.

“’Ello.” He said nervously. He had a magnificent accent, Ash noted.

“Wanna dance?” She grinned. He smiled hesitantly and nodded. He seemed shy; or at least nervous, but he followed her onto the dance floor. The conductor struck up a more dance-appropriate tune (finally) and the guests cleared the floor so they could watch the first dance, because they couldn’t dance until it was over, anyway. 

Once the dance got underway, Ash was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t have to lead her partner around the dance floor. She’d danced with gorillas before, and while they weren’t clumsy animals, they generally didn’t dance often. Thus, they rarely knew the steps to even the simplest box step, let alone the waltz Ash was doing right now. With a gorilla. There apparently could be miracles.

For all his dancing prowess, this gorilla had his hand on Ash’s back like he was afraid she might break, which might not to be all that far from the truth, considering the strength she could feel in his arm, under her paw. (Although, Ash just chalked it up to him thinking that “Princess” somehow meant “Caution: Fragile Contents”.) They whirled around, and eventually other couples came onto the floor. They danced for hours, and at some point, they ended up outside.

“You’re a good dancer.” Ash grinned, taking a seat on one of the benches. (Because yeah, part of being a princess is smiling through pain; but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t **_feel_** the stitch in her side pulling her lungs tight with every breath.)

“Thank you.” He grinned a little. “So are you.”

They sat there for a moment, just staring at each other, and somehow it wasn’t even awkward. Ash felt the need to say something, mainly because she was used to blurting out her opinions on everything.

“Maybe this is weird, because we just met, and I mean this whole thing is for me to find a Consort or whatever, and that’s cool and stuff, even though I didn’t really want to before right this very second, but I just wanted to say that-” Ash cut herself off.  “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. The point is, I really like you, and I choose you as my consort.”

“Wha-?” The gorilla gaped down at Ash. “You want me as your consort?”

“That is what I said.” Ash smirked. Honestly, she didn’t think she’d mind if he repeated everything she said in that accent.

“Why?” He frowned a little.

“Why.” Ash said flatly, and the gorilla gulped. “Honestly, that’s a good question.”

Ash tried not to laugh when her companion all but melted with relief.

“Okay, well, now I have to answer your question.” Ash grinned.

“You don’t have to, Princess.” He muttered. Ash put her paw over his.

“I want to.” She assured him. “Now, reason number one, because I have to pick someone tonight. Reason number two, you’re good-looking, you seem polite, and when we were dancing you didn’t break all my toes by standing all over them. And the final and perhaps most important reason, number three: you are maybe the only person at this ball that I don’t want to strangle after looking at for more than five seconds.”

He grinned a little.

“All good reasons.” He nodded.

“Naturally.” Ash made a “pretty princess” face; the kind she detested on other royals’ faces, and her companion let out a laugh she wouldn’t mind hearing for the rest of her life.

She hadn’t felt so sappy about anything in maybe ever.

“See, we’ve been dancing for hours and we’re not even clawing each other’s eyes out yet.” Ash continued merrily, and that is where everything went wrong. Her companion jumped up, pure panic painted across his face, and yanked his sleeve up to glare furiously at…his arm. No wait, a watch. The band blended in with the black fur on his arm. He turned to Ash, expression changing from panic to regret, clear as day.

“I’m so sorry, Princess.” He grimaced, and his voice cracked; hoarse with emotion. “But I have to go.”

“What?” Ash jumped up, and behind her the giant clock inside the ballroom started to chime twelve midnight.

“I can’t stay, I’m sorry.” He ran a hand over the fur on his head. “I just…goodbye, Princess.”

And with that he was gone.

Ash chased him out of the courtyard, and down all fifty million of the castle stairs. Like, were all these stairs really necessary? Ash’s legs were too short for this crap, and gorillas are fast. Not to mention this one was hoofing it towards a really nice truck at the bottom of the stairs.

He tripped on one of the stairs and went down hard, rolling back up on his feet minus one of his nice shoes. It was wedged in a crack in one of the stairs, but he didn’t seem inclined to come back for it. Once Ash reached it, she pulled it out and looked it over, just as he reached the truck and roared off.

The clock was on its fifth chime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference purposes, yes, the conductor is Judith the llama.  
> Fight me.


	3. I'm Sorry

I am so sorry to everyone who read and loved this, but i can no longer continue it. Due to personal reasons, i am deleting my account. Anyone is welcome to continue this, and i apologize to my readers.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. I'm super bad at commitments, but the chapters are written, so i just have to post them. Shouldn't be so hard.....right?


End file.
